Unplugged: Bettman on relocation, expansion

With the power of some fancy technology, National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman addressed reporters simultaneously in four cities on Tuesday.

His message was consistently upbeat, from television negotiations to overall interest in the game inside the United States. He also hit on a handful of hot-button issues that came up during the NHL governors meeting in Florida:

Expectations on negotiations for a U.S. television deal:

“Currently, we’re in a 90-day exclusive negotiating period with Versus. It started on Nov. 1 and ends the end of January. And so discussions, for the time being, are limited to Versus. We will go into an exclusive period with NBC just slightly afterward, and we’re also waiting to see what approvals are finally issued on the NBC Universal/Comcast merger, because I think that will move things along – when and if that happens. And hopefully, it won’t be ‘if,’ it will just be ‘when.’”

On head-hits:

“As you all know, we made the rule change over the summer — actually, at the end of last season — to try to eliminate what otherwise would have been legal hits from the blindside, where the head is the principal point of contact. We had a discussion as to how the rule is working. I think people in the room were comfortable that it’s working the way we intended. It will continue to evolve. It’s a work in progress. But people were comfortable that we’re on the right track.”

On shootouts:

“The number of shootouts, in terms of deciding games, is down dramatically — somewhere around half from last year at this time. Last year may have been an aberration. What’s also clear from our fan research is somewhere around 70 percent of our fans, give and take, both in the U.S. in Canada, prefer the games be ended with a decision as opposed to a tie. I don’t think there’s any move whatsoever to get rid of the shootout.”

On U.S.-based interest in the NHL:

“We’re a much more significant player in the media landscape than we’ve been for a whole host of reasons – it’s the game on the ice, the competitive balance, the variety of things that we’re doing to engage our fans, the presence of digital media. Our ratings are stronger. We had a terrific year last year, including during the playoffs, where set all sorts of records. We’re in a good place, better than we’ve been on a whole host of platforms and measurables. And I think there’s interest in us — more than there’s ever been, and that’s a good thing.”

Was there talk of relocation by teams struggling to draw fans?

“No.”

Will there be any talk of expansion or moving teams?

“That’s not something that we’re planning, with respect to expansion. And our goal is always to try to avoid relocation. We don’t like them, and we try to avoid them.”

On talk about the CBA, which expires in 2012:

“There’s always discussion about what our economics are, how we’re doing and how we think the system is working. I talk about that. (Deputy commissioner) Bill Daly talks about that. We talk about trends. But it’s really too early in the process for us to be formulating our list of demands or requests, of what have you, for a variety of reasons. We’ve got a year-and-a-half to go. There isn’t yet an executive director at the players’ association — although that’s likely to change shortly. And, perhaps as importantly from an attention standpoint, the other three major sports go before we do. So I would respectfully urge that this isn’t something that any of us in a public forum need to be focused on for a while.”